Method of handling concrete forms



I Nov. 27, 1951 w| s 2,576,375

METHOD OF HANDLING CONCRETE FORMS Filed July 1, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l grwmvbo'v HUGHE5E.WlLLlAH5,

5% Jim riQQMk ATTO R N 2Y5.

Nov. 27, 1951 H. E. WILLIAMS 2,576,375

ME'IIHOD OF HANDLING CONCRETE FORMS Filed July 1, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 N HUGHES EWILLIANS wow ATTORN EY5,

I ?atented Nov. 27, 1951 r r orncs 1 Claim. 1

' The invention relates to a method of handling the steel side rail forms used in. the laying of concrete pavement.

W hen a strip of concrete is to he laid as a pavement the sub-grade is usually formed and compacted and then steel side rails are arranged in the alignment of the proper spacing and leveled so as to receive the green or plastic concrete when it is poured and in turn compacted.

After the concrete slab has "seen positioned and allowed to set, then the steel side forms are removed; loaded on to trucks or trailers and moved forwardly along the right-of=way and relocated so as to form the next increment of the concrete slab. These, forms are usually about thirty feet in length, quite heavy and cumbersome and power mechanism must he used in the loading uni loading thereof. The inside wall or face of each form serves to create the side edge or wall of the concrete slab and usually considerable of the concrete adheres to this side face of the rail when the concrete sets so that when the rail is broken loose some of the concrete particles adhere to the side rail' The present practice is to have employees remove these particles with a hammer and chisel so as to clean up the side rails ready for re-use.

The present invention contemplates a method of moving the side rails when they are broken loose along the ground to the new location where they are to be used, and during such movement to drag the rails along the ground with the side face downwardly so that the adhering concrete particles will be scoured from the face as the rails travel along the right-of-way to the new location. The result being that when the rails arrive at the new location they are already cleaned and scoured, ready for re-use due to having been dragged along the ground.

It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to provide a method of moving concrete pavement side rails from a location where the slabs are completed to a new location where the slab is to be formed by coupling a series of the rails together and dragging them along the rightof-way while scouring the contact side of the rails along the ground so that the rails are ready for resetting and reuse when they arrive at the new location.

Another object of the invention is to flexibly connect a plurality of concrete pavement side rails with the contact face downwardly on the earth and then drag the series of rails to the new location where they are to be set in forming a new increment of pavement.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a method of moving and scouring concrete pavement and side rails as a single operation in relocating the rails for re-use.

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following drawings are considered wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional View of a concrete slab and the supporting side rail while the slab is solidifying.

Fig. 2 is a section similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating the side rail as having been knocked loose from the concrete slab so that the rail may be reused.

Fig. 3 shows a plurality of the side rails such as shown in Fig. 2 as having been turned with the concrete contact face downwardly on the ground with a series of the rails flexibly connected, ready for movement to the new location for re-use.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a power unit towing a series of the side rails along the right-ofway and scouring adhering concrete particles from the concrete contact face by scouring such face on the ground.

In Fig. 1 a steel side rail 2 of general configuration is shown as having in position upon the subgrade 3 with the side wall or concrete contact face i in vertical position. These side rails may be said to be of a general G- cross-section with transverse bracing gussets or walls 5. The top rail portion 6 serves as a support for the various types of machinery used in the depositing of the plastic concrete l in creating the concrete slab 8 which forms the pavement.

The green concrete 1 is compacted in position by suitable vibrators and the surface 9 thereof finished with suitable bull floats and finishing machines as desired.

Usually the paving contractor has a substantial length of concrete pavement or slab to place and it is desirable to re-use the side rails 2 in a number of instances. The side rails being removed from the concrete as soon as the concrete has taken a set sufnciently to prevent cracking or falling off. The side rails 2 are removed from the slab, usually by knocking the rails laterally away from the concrete slab or by pulling them away with a suitable power unit. When the rails 2 are pulled away it is not unusual for particles E2 of the concrete to adhere to the face 4 of the rail. As indicated, the present practice is to load up the rails, scrape the concrete particles therefrom, unload the rails, and reset them on the right-of- Way to form the next increment of pavement.

The present invention contemplates that the rails 2 will be rolled over into the position shown in Fig. 3 in end-to-end relationship with the face 4 downwardly on the ground or sub-grade ii of the highway. It will he noted that the base of each of the rails has an opening l4 adjacent each and so that the rails may be coupled together with the flexible couplings I5. Such couplings may take various forms, those illustrated including a hook 15 passing through the openings 14 in the adjacent ends of two rails and those hooks are attached together by suitable chain lengths ll, four, five, or six of which may be employed. It seems obvious that a short length of cable could he used as well.

When a plurality of the rails have been arranged in a string and coupled together as seen in 3, then a power unit 26, such as a tractor, may be coupled to the string of rails and the rails hauled forwardly along the right-of-way without having been lifted onto a truck or without further labor expended upon them. As the rails are dragged along the right-of-way the scouring action takes place due to the weight of the rail on the ground and it has been found in actual practice that the concrete particles seen in Fig. 2 will he scoured from the face of the concrete so that when the rails arrive at the new location they are in alignment adjacent the location where they are to be set, the concrete contact faces 4 have been scoured and are ready for re-use.

Broadly the invention contemplates a method of handling concrete pavement side rails so as to move them to a new location for re-use without lifting or handling and by scouring the rails as they are pulled along the ground to the new 10- cation.

What is claimed is: A method of handling the steel side rail 4 channel shaped forms having a side used in the laying of concrete pavement wherein the forms are placed With the side wall in vertical position to retain the concrete, the concrete poured and permitted to set against the vertical side wall, the steps of, knocking each individual form loose from the concrete, rolling the forms so that the inside wall face which supported the concrete will face downwardly upon the ground REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,338,686 Fennessy May 4, 1920 1,379,457 Loxterman May 24, 1921 1,477,767 Pulis Dec. 18, 1923 2,377,944 Kohlhaas June 12,1945

v OTHER REFERENCES Engineering News-Record, Sept. 3, 1931, page 387, McGraw-Hill publishing company, Albany, New York. 

